Charlie and Daniel
by Miss Lestrade
Summary: In a roomful of painful memories, Daniel does his best to protect Jack from the past. NOT slash.


Charlie and Daniel

I do not own Stargate, which is a shame. If I did, there would be more moments like the ones in 'Need'...yes.

This is basically a sweet little one-shot about how Daniel is always looking out for Jack.

* * *

Daniel glanced at Jack, even as a small boy brushed past him, treading on his feet. An older blond girl ran after him, her dress flowing like a butterfly behind her. Daniel clenched his teeth, watching Jack twist around, trying to avoid accidentally bumping a stray child. Jack glanced back at the archaeologist, lips pursed in a fine grimace.

Daniel nudged a black-haired boy out of the way as he stepped toward the colonel. Jack had practically frozen in the midst of the children, breaths coming a bit more shallow than normal. Daniel reached out and touched his sleeve, making Jack flinch.

"Jack?"

"Daniel…"

"You okay?"

The colonel rubbed his arm ruefully as yet another kid ran up to him. The child stared up at the colonel, blue eyes wide and admiring. His sandy hair fell feather-soft over his forehead. Jack shivered. It was barely noticeable, but Daniel could sense his discomfort.

Teal'c approached the small group at the end of the hall. "Are you well, O'Neill?" he asked plainly, as if Jack and he were the only people in the room. The colonel looked tiredly up at the Jaffa.

"I'm alright, T."

Daniel took off his glasses, taking a seat on a nearby ledge. A few children scrambled up next to him. He smiled at them, breathing on his lenses and wiping them on his shirt. "Hey, sweetheart." He addressed a girl near his feet.

"Hirret." she said, pointing to her chest.

The archaeologist nodded and put a hand to his own chest. "Daniel."

"Daniel." she repeated, touching his knee.

"Hirret." Daniel touched the top of her head and she laughed, as little girls often do.

"Daniel," the girl pointed to Jack, a questioning look on her face. She looked troubled, as if uncomfortable with the fact that someone was not enjoying themselves. Daniel groaned and removed his glasses again. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and wiped the sweat from around his eyes.

"He lost someone…a long time ago. Some of the kids here just reminded him of Charlie, I guess." Daniel knew that the girl had no idea what he was saying. He laughed resignedly. "He would never admit it though." Samantha Carter sat down next to him with an exaggerated, happy sigh.

"Hi, Daniel. It's really hot, isn't it?"

"Oh. Hey, Sam. This is Hirret, my new best friend." Daniel hadn't noticed the heat, accustomed to the raised temperatures on Abydos.

"Hi." Sam waved to the little girl and earned a bashful giggle in return. "Wow, you're a natural." Daniel snorted and looked back up towards Jack and Teal'c. The shutters had gone up on Jack's eyes, and he looked relatively normal again. Daniel sighed, turning to Sam and opened his mouth to remark about the children.

"He's remembering Charlie, isn't he?" asked Sam, noticing the resemblance and cutting the archaeologist off.

Daniel shrugged. "Probably. If we're all done here, I don't know why he wants to stay…" Daniel trailed off, a lump forming in his throat. The boy that looked like Charlie O'Neill was tugging at Jack's vest. Daniel couldn't help swearing under his breath. He looked down at Hirret, who was speaking rapidly in her native language with another child. "Sam, I'll be right back." Daniel immediately hopped off to where the colonel was standing.

Teal'c, turned away from the rest of the team, glanced around when he heard Daniel start rambling loudly to O'Neill. Teal'c looked at the two men, raising an eyebrow. Daniel was saying that they should go soon as there was nothing else to find, and Jack was just shrugging and giving one-word answers. Daniel waved a Sanskrit dictionary under the colonel's nose to illustrate some unintelligible point. "I should be getting back to translate the ruins!" he pleaded.

"Daniel, what's this really about?"

The archaeologist's jaw tightened. He took Jack forcefully by the arm and led the surprised, slightly bemused colonel to a darkened, adjacent hallway. Light shone in from the other room, illuminating Daniel's grimace.

"Jack, are you ok?"

"Daniel, I'm fine. The question is, are _you_ okay? Why are we in here? You're not going to jump me, are you?"

"JACK!" hissed Daniel angrily.

"Sorry." The colonel grinned, scratching the side of his head.

"Look, Jack. All these kids…I can tell…" Daniel trailed off, uncertain. O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "You look like…you're thinking of Charlie when you see them."

Jack's amused grin faded instantly. "Daniel, you're way off mark. But, if you're so keen to get out of here, then go get Carter and Teal'c." Jack hefted up the pack he'd been carrying and shoved it into the younger man's arms. He strode back into the room and picked up another bag of equipment. Daniel sighed shakily. Why couldn't Jack take him seriously? Daniel walked back out into the chamber to the abundance of chattering children. Some were crowded around Jack, Sam, and Teal'c, looking despaired that their newfound friends were leaving.

"Well, kids… according to Danny over there, we're leaving now."

Daniel just blatantly ignored the comment and knelt to say goodbye to Hirret and her friends and siblings.

Sam looked back at the temple as they left, noting the seemingly hostile glances between her CO and Daniel. The two men would look over at each other, and then look quickly away, as if acknowledging the other was out of the question. Sam sighed. Whenever there was a rift between Jackson and O'Neill, everyone on the team was affected. The entire base was affected. Usually, their quarrels were over petty things. Sometimes, however, it was a question of their moral codes. This one looked serious to Sam. They weren't even arguing.

Daniel was about to go up to the DHD when Jack took a hold of the collar of his jacket, making Daniel bounce back in surprise. "Go ahead, Carter. Dial it up." Indignantly, Daniel tried to move forward. Jack just held on tighter. Teal'c shot them a questioning glance, but Jack just waved him off. "We'll be right there." he said reassuringly.

"Yes, Sir." muttered Sam, hoping that the archaeologist wasn't in too much trouble.

Teal'c met Daniel's beseeching gaze for a moment. "Very well, O'Neill." he agreed, to Daniel's horror. Both he and Carter stepped through the 'gate, the event horizon rippling behind them.

Jack let go of his friend's collar, and Daniel turned sharply, his eyes flashing. "What the hell was that, Jack?"

The colonel gave a small, twisted smile. "You really are something, Danny." The words were sincere, not sarcastic in any way. Daniel, a bit taken back, searched for a witty comeback to no avail.

"You were right."

"I'm always right. What was I right about?" muttered Daniel, corners of his lips twitching.

"About that kid in there…Jesus, they looked so alike." Jack paused to run a hand through his graying hair. He looked carefully at Daniel. "I don't need your protection, though. I should deal with it myself."

"Oh." Daniel said, frustrated. "Sorry, then." He began to make his way to the stargate.

"Wait." Jack's voice was slightly apologetic. Daniel turned. "Thanks."

"Um…"

"Sorry, that was awkward."

"A little." Daniel laughed.

"Let's go, shall we?"

* * *

Please give a review to a review junkie. :) She would really appreciate it...


End file.
